Saturday, December 27, 2014

Christmas finishes

We had a wonderful Christmas, and I did some last-minute quilty gifts for friends and family alike this year.

First off, I made a very cute train-themed pillowcase for our choo-choo-loving 4 yr old friend Isaac.  I stupidly didn't get a picture of it before I delivered it (it was a Chanukah gift, so it went out earlier this week), but I will eventually snap a pic of it to share.  In the mean time, here's what the main fabric looks like. 


Got it from City Quilter in Manhattan.  They have a line of New York City themed fabrics, and this is a newer one that I think they commissioned in the last year.  The cuff of the pillowcase is this fabric:


Very cool NYC subway stop names, which Isaac appreciated, as he knows the system inside and out!  His parents said that he didn't sleep on it the first night because it wasn't washed, but he slept with it, holding it like a stuffed animal.  So cute!  I also love giving gifts that are so appreciated- it makes the work so worth it :)

Second, I made a pair of mug rugs for our dear friends in eastern Pennsylvania.  I broke into my collection of Matryoshka doll fabric for my first mug rug project, and whipped them up surprisingly quickly. 


They measure about 9" by 16" and have this cute Russian doll nativity characters fabric that I got at Joann's a few years back.  The back has another Matryoshka fabric I got in Fairbanks, AK last winter.  The border fabric is from that same collection.

 




The two rugs have different free motion quilting designs.  The first one I did with  a looping design, but the second one I decided to do some echo quilting around the characters...wish I had done them both that way, but they both have their own personalities, so that's OK, I guess.
 
 


Here's one of our mugs rugs in action.  We tested it out on Santa on Christmas Eve.  We think he was very impressed!
 
 
My third project was a Christmas stocking for my daughter using the same focus fabric from the mug rugs.
 

I did the same echo quilting around the figures, stars on the toe and tracing around the stars and loops in the heel.

 
I actually like the back more than the front :).  Again, I echo quilted with yellow thread around the figures.  Finishing this one was strangely exhilarating- it was surprisingly moving to me to have made this for my daughter, imaging her growing up and being delighted with gifts from Santa each year as she gets bigger.  I was also super proud of how good it looked- I can do other things besides quilts :)